Menendez demands tighter screening for airport employees

Saying there is "a vulnerable hole in our security," U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez called on federal authorities today to require that all airport employees be screened more thoroughly for bombs and other weapons before being allowed access to airplane cargo holds and other secure areas.

In letters to the heads of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration, Menendez (D-N.J.) said recent incidents at Newark Liberty International Airport "raise serious questions about the adequacy of our nation's airline employee screening procedures."

The Star-Ledger has reported that airline employees at Newark Liberty International Airport have been implicated in drug smuggling and theft cases, and detailed how workers' bags are given only cursory checks at one Terminal C access point before the employees are waved into secure areas.

"The fact that pilots and flight attendants undergo security every time they fly, but those who handle cargo, luggage and have access to planes on the tarmac face little or no screening seems to simply defy common sense," Menendez wrote.

Security experts and some public officials have demanded airport workers undergo the same type of security screenings as passengers. TSA officials have said passenger lines would increase if all workers had to pass through regular security checkpoints.

But Menendez stopped short of calling for employees to undergo checks at passenger checkpoints.

At Newark Liberty, most workers are only required to swipe an employee card and enter a personal identification number at special access points. Workers must show the card to a security guard and open their bags for inspection before being allowed into airplane cargo holds or other secure areas.

But an examination by The Star-Ledger at a Terminal C access point that is in public view found that FJC guards often give employees' bags just a cursory look.

Christopher White, a TSA spokesman, said the agency received the Menendez letter and would respond directly to him.